Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
9 December 2008
Maputo — The sugar company Acucareira de Mocambique (AM), at Mafambisse, in the central province of Sofala, is investing about 20 million US dollars in a project to expand the sugar cane plantation and to modernise the irrigation system.
The objective is to ensure that AM, which is 75 per cent owned by the South African Tongaat Hulett group, can produce top quality cane, and increase its sugar production from the current 50,000 tonnes a year to 85,000 tonnes.
The general manager of AM, Paul Davillas, says that the new pumps, installed on the river Muda, can irrigate an area of 2,100 hectares of sugar cane. As from 2009, he said, the cane will be transported by rail from the plantation to the factory, which will be considerably cheaper than road transport.
The plantation is 60 kilometres from the Mafambisse sugar mill, said Davillas, and transporting the cane by truck has involved heavy fuel costs, as well as the wear and tear on the vehicles.
AM intends to increase its production in order to take advantage of the opportunities the European Union offers for duty free and quota free imports from least developed countries under the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative.
Up until now, AM has faced difficulties in improving its yields. The Mafambisse clay soils are shallow, not very permeable, and the entire plantation area is very flat. The irrigation system was unable to cope with the needs of the cane fields, particularly in periods of poor rainfall.
The expansion and modernisation project is supposed to deal with such problems, with the cane fields being expanded into more appropriate areas in Nhamatanda district.
According to Davillas, the project is expected to create 2,500 new jobs. There will be a further impact on household incomes through the involvement of small farmers in the production of additional cane for sale to the Mafambisse factory.
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